“You should just tell her!” I hear grandpa angrily whisper to mom in the kitchen.
“Absolutely not!” mom snaps. “This is my decision and you will respect it.”
“You can’t hide this forever, and you’re only hurting her in the long run.”
“Can’t I hide it though?”
There’s a tense silence before grandpa whispers, “you wouldn’t dare.”
“Hey,” I call interrupting whatever fight is going on. “Where’s Gracie?”
The tense silence stretches a moment longer before mom walks into the foyer with me. “She’s at home and we need to go meet her now. There’s pasta at home for dinner.”
“Oh, okay,” I say, refusing to acknowledge how weird she’s being. How weird everyone is being, tbh.
I follow mom out onto the porch and call out, “goodbye grandpa,” before closing the door. He doesn’t answer me.
“So, mom,
